LEGAZPI CITY -- Disaster officials in Albay alerted residents after it was identified that at least 64 barangays in the province are areas prone to landslides.

        “We do not want to have a repeat here of what happened in Guinsaugon, Leyte a few years ago where the whole village was covered by landslides,” Regional Director Raffy Alejandor of the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol warned.

        In a meeting of the technical committee of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council of Albay, it was pointed out that Albay’s soil has been saturated with 957.8 millimeter rainfall during the past 8 days which could trigger landslides in risk-prone barangays.

        The technical committee meeting was attended by Alejandor, Albay Provincial Safety and Management Office Chief Cedric Daep, Ed Laguerta of Phivolcs, PAGASA Chief Hernando Pantoja, and Arlene Dayao, OIC chief of the Geosciences Division of the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau in Bicol.

        They feared that landslides in risk-prone areas may occur just like what happened in Leyte which buried alive scores of villagers at the height of continuous rains.

        Mayor Carlos “Caloy” Baldo of Camalig, Albay told reporters here that six barangays in his town such as Sugong, Gutod, Ligban, Tagoytoy, Mina and Baligang slid back from their original location after the ground cracked and created a gap of more than one meter.

        “We heard rumblings as the ground cracked and such crack extended from Bgy. Sugong to as far as the adjoining barangays of Gutod, Ligban, Tagoytoy, Mina and Baligang,” the residents reported.

        Baldo said they also feared that mountain slopes may erode anytime that could affect thousands of villagers living along the slopes.

        He said that as of Tuesday, Feb 26, some 162 families or 823 persons had already abandoned their homes by the side of the mountain for safety.

        Arlene Dayao, of the MGB strongly recommended for the full evacuation of residents living near the mountain slopes in Camalig town.

        A massive information drive to warn 15 affected towns and three cities identified as landslide-prone areas has been carried out since the first day of February, it was learned.

        As this developed, the Army engineering brigade has been reported to have commenced clearing operations in Manito town after its road network was cut by a string of landslides that isolated the town.

        Army Col. Jose Gleen Alcala, commanding officer of 565th Engineering Construction Battalion, 51st Engineer Brigade of the Philippine Army based in Camp Martillana, San Jose Pili, Camarines Sur told Bicol Mail that clearing operations are undergoing in Barangays Tinapian and Malobago, both of Manito town.

        The OCD has estimated that the cost of damage to infrastructure in Albay caused by flashfloods and landslides has already reached P372.4 million as of the latest reporting period.